A proposal to create designated smoking zones on the University of Tampa’s campus, presented this past November by the student organization Breathe-Easy UT, has been approved and will be put into effect in the fall. It was evaluated by UT’s President Ronald Vaughn and his executive board during the winter break.
The zones initiative began in fall 2009 with Breathe-Easy UT and public health students helping produce data to support the shift in the university’s smoking policy.
The previous policy, according to the Associate Dean of Wellness Gina Firth, stated, “Use of all tobacco products is prohibited in university buildings and in the outside areas surrounding fresh intakes. Individuals choosing to smoke outdoors must be at least 25 feet away from doors.”
However, this restriction was seldom enforced. The new proposal aimed to improve campus smoking regulations. “With these smoke zones, we hope to follow the examples of over 500 universities that have become smoke-free,” Firth said last December.
According to the American Nonsmokers Rights Foundation, 14 colleges in Florida have completely banned smoking on their campuses, while seven other colleges statewide have implemented smoking zones, including UCF, Valencia College and Miami Dade College.
The zone areas were chosen through surveys run by public health students and met the criteria of being an appropriate distance away from buildings.
According to Firth, the smoking policy will be enforced by trained student and staff smoke-free ambassadors. They will approach people who are in violation and provide them with a map of the four zones and information on smoking cessation services. It will be a mutual respect policy.
Firth explained the importance of creating the smoking areas. “We can prevent health risks associated with exposure to secondhand smoke,” she said. “Many chronic diseases such as asthma, cystic fibrosis, emphysema and cardiac disease are exacerbated by secondhand smoke.”
Some smokers are not thrilled with the idea of being restricted to zones.
“It’s annoying that I’d have to sit somewhere special for smoking,” sophomore Chardene Williams said. “That limits the amount of friends that you can sit with and [it creates an] even longer walk, depending on which spot you are closest to. I live in Brevard and the closest one to me would be a walk over to Austin.”
Junior Sabrina Milroy supports the smoking zones, but doubts they will be effective once implemented.
“This is a good idea, it is just going to be really hard for people to follow them,” Milroy said. “Even now we aren’t allowed to smoke under the veranda, but people do it anyway. So if it is windy or cold or if you just want to go down for a quick smoke, you are more than likely just going to stand closest to your building than walk to a smoke zone.”
According to the American College Health Association, tobacco use is one of the top 11 most important health issues to target college campuses.
Monica Mansour, former president of Breathe-Easy UT, was instrumental in moving this proposal into action.
“Our initiative’s goal is to educate students about the dangers of tobacco use and help those who are addicted or feel that they may become addicted,” Mansour said. “In addition, we are dedicated to make UT smoke-free, for it is proven that by having smoking policies, it reduces the amount of tobacco use and also provides people who don’t smoke the opportunity to breathe clean air. It is not that we are anti-smoking as much as we are pro-health. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. and therefore we believe there must be something done.”
Last year, Breathe-Easy UT received more than 1,000 student signatures for a petition saying they are in favor of smoke zones. “This is a huge number and it is incredible when I and other members hear the complaints from students about smoke around campus,” Mansour said. “Many students have asthma or are allergic to smoke and therefore are challenged daily because of the choice of other people. That is why we are so persistent about becoming smoke-free.”
Paola Crespo can be reached at Paola.Crespo@theminaretonline.com